Sandusky's Shame Casts Lasting Shadow

COLUMN

October 11, 2012|Stan Simpson

The last time a child abuser showed as much audacity as Jerry Sandusky did Tuesday in Bellefonte, Pa., was 12 years ago. Philip Giordano, then Waterbury's mayor, in a long shot bid to unseat incumbent Sen. Joe Lieberman, accused Lieberman of votes Giordano said left children open to attack by pedophiles.

Three years later, in 2003, Giordano was convicted and sentenced to 37 years in prison for child molestation; after the federal government indicted him for having two girls, ages 10 and 8, perform oral sex on him in the mayor's office.

Unlike former Penn State football assistant coach Sandusky, who was sentenced to a minimum of 30 years on 45 counts of child sex abuse, the feds didn't consider Giordano a pedophile. He was mostly an abuser. The kids were innocent and convenient victims of his narcissistic, self-gratifying personality.

Giordano, like Sandusky, actually had redeeming qualities. He was a husband and father; a lawyer, a state representative, a three-term mayor and a fluent in English, Spanish and Italian. But he too had a dark, demented and despicable side.

The two girls were the niece and daughter of a crack-addicted hooker named Gigi Jones. Giordano also took liberties with her while on the clock as Waterbury's chief elected official.

Sandusky's trial differed from Giordano's in that Sandusky's dealt with 45 counts that spanned 15 years. Sandusky had a history of pedophilia. There was no evidence that Giordano previously had sex with children.

Outside of a terrorist attack, I don't know if we've seen a crime that caused more collateral damage than Sandusky's.

There were young victims who psychologically may never get over the trauma of being molested. We'll never know how those violations have influenced their lives and ability to interact with others, including their families.

Penn State, one of the country's prestigious universities, has lost some of its luster for its complicity in enabling Sandusky to conduct his lewd acts. The legacy of Hall of Fame coach Joe Paterno is forever tainted. The Paterno family has also been traumatized as it gamely tries to defend its patriarch's reputation. And, yes, the Sandusky family is enduring a living hell of its own.

Scores of PSU alumni lament the shameful portrait that the name Happy Valley now conjures. Oswald Valentine Simpson, my late dad, was a proud Penn State and a Paterno admirer. He passed on that love of the Nittany Lions to his three boys, one of whom — me — was born in State College, Pa.

The Sandusky saga was personal for me. He tarnished my birthplace, my father's alma mater and my favorite college football team with one of society's most heinous crimes. And although you may want prison justice to simply take its course with Sandusky, the reality is that he is nothing more than a pathetic, broken-down 68-year-old man, who, based on his rambling attempt to proclaim his innocence, is in denial about his monstrous behavior.

Allegations of child molestation are almost impossible to shake. Many churches have had to regroup because of troubling allegations against their minister.

Last year, when five young men lodged charges of sexual coercion against megachurch Bishop Eddie Long in Atlanta, it brought a drop in the membership of the 25,000-strong congregation and divorce papers from Long's wife. Though the minister proclaimed his innocence, he also quietly settled the lawsuit with his accusers.

New Birth Missionary Baptist Church members had their forgiving nature tested on that one.

One of the oddest cases of child molestation occurred in 2004, when a Houston jury acquitted Connecticut basketball legend Calvin Murphy of charges he molested five of his daughters. Murphy fathered 14 children by nine different women. Some of his offspring testified on his behalf; others testified against him.

Adding more drama to the case was that three of the daughters accusing Murphy were also fighting him over the disbursement of a $54,000 insurance policy connected to the death of their mother.

Despite the acquittal, Calvin Murphy's reputation will never be the same. The same could be said for Penn State.

Sandusky essentially received a life sentence. The cash cow that is Penn State football essentially received an NCAA death penalty. And the university's reputation will never be the same.